Notebook: For now, Ducks prepare for life without LaMichael

Even as LaMichael James told others he felt good on Monday, the Ducks were preparing to play without the nation’s leading rusher against Arizona State on Saturday.

James was at Oregon’s training facility on Monday, presumably for continued treatment of his injured right elbow. But he was not seen with the rest of the team leaving the Moshofsky Center after practice.

“It hurts. That’s one of our leaders, one of our great players,” UO senior rover Eddie Pleasant said. “We’ve got to step up. We’ve got to pick it up for him. …

“On the defensive side, we all playing for him; we know we’ve got to go out there and make some stops, get some takeaways and do what we gotta do to win this game. Like I said, he’s a big part of our offense, he does some great things for us, but we can’t hold our head down just because he’s not playing this week.”

James told UO running backs coach Gary Campbell on Monday morning that he will be “all right.”

“Optimistically, LaMichael says ‘I’m going to be back real soon,’ ” Campbell said. “I don’t know how soon that is. … I think he will be back on the field in a minimal amount of time.”

Meanwhile, Campbell said true freshman De’Anthony Thomas took “a few more” reps with the running backs during practice Monday, in addition to his continued work as a receiver. If James is unable to play this week, junior Kenjon Barner is expected to start, with another true freshman, Tra Carson, also likely to see extended playing time. Click here for the complete notebook.